NEW CASTLE, Pa. – Records are meant to be broken, and the Lawrence County Fair junior market livestock sale buyers have pushed the bar higher again this year.
The overall sale gross on 243 lots was $150,036, up nearly $20,000 from last year’s sale. Buyers have pushed the sale total higher in each of the past four years.
Six individual records fell, as a little friendly competition among buyers kicked in.
Record rabbits. Anna McAnallen’s grand champion pen of rabbits, with a total weight of 14.3 pounds, earned a new record bid of $37.50 a pound from Yoho’s Farm and Family Store. The new mark tops the $31 bid set in 2000 and helped give McAnallen a quick $536.25 for her three rabbits.
Amy Anderson, who raised the grand champion pen of rabbits in 2001 and 2000, captured the reserve champion spot this year. Tractor Supply Company of Hermitage paid $25 a pound for the 14.9-pound trio. Although well above last year’s $10 bid, TSC didn’t quite match the $31 bid set in 2000.
The 13 rabbit pens averaged $8.62 a pound with the champions; $5.91 a pound, without.
Hogs stayed strong. Prices stayed high during the sale of the 106 hogs,, with the overall average hitting $2.15 a pound, including champions, and $2.14 a pound, without champions.
Custom Fab Trailer continued its string of buys with a $6 a pound bid on the 274-pound grand champion hog raised by Katie Majors. Goodge’s Tax Service paid $5 a pound for the reserve champion hog raised by Mike Thompson. The 264-pound York crossbred gilt was bred and raised on the Thompson family’s farm near Pulaski.
Pizza’s by Marchelloni added some fresh sausage with the purchase of Cody Simmons’ grand champion carcass hog for $4 a pound. The eatery turned around and did it again with Rachel Kenny’s reserve champion carcass hog, setting a new record at $3.75 a pound.
Lamb records. It’s hard to hit the record mark on the live lambs – both the grand and reserve lambs hit $18 a pound last year. But the prices the winners received this year weren’t anything to frown about either.
Katie McKissick’s 113-pound Suffolk grand champion earned a bid of $9 a pound from George Colpetzer and Richard Martin Trucking. Kaitlin Martin’s 123-pound reserve champion earned a little bit more: $10.50 a pound from Rachel’s Roadhouse.
The grand champion pen of lambs, raised by Dylan Martin, received a bid of $5.25 a pound from a team of buyers: Sankey Feed Mill, Watson’s Inc., Josh Geiwitz and Wilson Custom Work.
Studebaker Fertilizer and Seed set a new record for the reserve champion pen, the penmate of Kaitlin Martin’s reserve champion single lamb. The bid of $6 a pound topped the previous record of $5 a pound set in 1999 and 2000.
Not to be outdone, buyers of both lamb carcass champions set new records with their bids.
Pizzas by Marchelloni paid a record $7 a pound for the grand champion carcass lamb raised by Jim Hollencamp; D.J.’s Smokehouse paid a record $7.50 a pound for the reserve carcass raised by Travis Book.
The 63 lambs averaged $2.87 a pound with the champions; $2.78 a pound, without.
Steers. The market steer show was a busy time for the Book families, no strangers to the champion circles in the Lawrence County Fair steer show.
A little sibling and cousin rivalry heated up when the judge came to slap the grand champion, but 2002 was Eric Book’s year to shine, as his 1,219-pound Angus/Maine crossbred steer won the top spot, besting a 1,307-pound Angus steer raised by his cousin, Kelly, who earned reserve champion honors.
Hoss’ Steak and Sea House paid $2.40 a pound for Eric’s grand champion and True Value Hardware paid $1.75 a pound for Kelly’s reserve champion.
Elizabeth Rodgers raised the grand champion carcass steer, which sold for $1.55 a pound to Pizzas by Marchelloni. Dennis Book’s reserve champion carcass steer sold for $1.60 a pound to Lawrence County Family Medicine and Bill Dean Livestock Farm.
The 49 steers averaged 90 cents a pound with the champions; 91 cents, without.
Goats. Another record fell as Ravens Glenn Farm paid $8.50 a pound for the grand champion market goat, a 108-pound LaMancha raised by Jared Cornelius. TSC of Hermitage paid $4.25 a pound for the reserve champion goat, a 92-pound Boer cross, raised by Britney Stickle.
The 12 goats averaged $4.06 a pound with the champions; $3.44 a pound, without champions.
Britney Stickle also earned the Joseph E. Shick Memorial Award, presented each year in memory of the late Joe Shick, long-time ag extension agent in Lawrence County.
